


Of Crayons and Shoelaces

by KaytiKazoo



Series: How It Could Have Been [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Breakfast, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, First Day of School, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26241544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytiKazoo/pseuds/KaytiKazoo
Summary: It's Luke's first day of school, and everyone is excited, and nervous.
Relationships: Deke Shaw/Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Series: How It Could Have Been [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903096
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	Of Crayons and Shoelaces

Lucas Phillip Johnson was entirely his mother’s son, from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet and to the attitude that popped out of his mouth. Deke always had to stifle his laugh and duck away from the conversation when Luke’s attitude came out, unable to school his expression the same way Daisy and Daniel could. They were spies, trained to go undercover and save the world. Deke was a fuck up from the future who got extremely lucky. He wasn’t equipped for their son’s ability to turn anything around on them. 

He was the most amazing little kid that Deke had ever met. He’d spent time around  Alya and Oliver, obviously, and he adored them, but he was blown away by Luke every single day. 

The morning of his first day of school, Deke could feel the sadness and the excitement in their home. Deke climbed out of bed last, always the latest riser in their home. He followed the sound of Luke singing along to his latest obsession in the living room and dropped a kiss on his head. He found Daniel in his suit in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee for each of them while Daisy made them breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. There was a message from Jemma and Fitz on their message board in the kitchen for Lucas, wishing him luck. 

“Hello loves of my life,” Deke said, trying to cheery but yawning midway. Daniel pulled him in for a kiss as he rounded the kitchen island. “How are we this morning?”

“Daniel cried three times before we got up,” Daisy said with a smile.

“Daisy wiped her snotty nose on your shirt.”

“ Ahh , you’re both tattletales, then,” Deke said, leaning over to kiss Daisy’s cheek. “He’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” Daisy said. “What if the other kids are mean to him?”

“They wouldn’t dare,” Deke said.

“They might,” she whined. “I don’t want him to get hurt. I can’t protect him from schoolyard bullies.”

“He’s the sweetest, most likeable kid in the world,” he replied. He fixed his coffee the way he liked and sank into a stool. “No one’s going to pick on him.”

“Daddy, look what I made!” Luke called, running into the kitchen with a stack of Legos stuck together to look like a sword. “Just like you!”

Deke lifted Luke up onto his lap in the stool, and pretended to inspect the Lego sword carefully. All Luke really understood is that Deke’s company made stuff, and he’d decided somewhere along the way that Deke made swords and  lightsabers and other fantastical weapons he might see in his cartoons. The day Luke watched She-Ra and saw the Sword of Protection was the day he fell in love with all things sword-like. 

“This is a work of art, Luke. Truly.”

“You like it?” Luke asked.

“I really do. You’re going to be the next top engineer at the company!”

Luke grinned at him, and Deke pressed a kiss to his temple, unable to stop himself. He’d clearly dressed himself that morning, and Daisy hadn’t noticed yet. His shirt was on inside out, and backwards, and he was definitely wearing his play jeans, the knee torn. 

“Are you excited?” he asked.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah? What are you excited about?”

“ Uhm , well, friends. And books. And  Alya told me about recess!”

“Those sounds very exciting,” Deke agreed. He hadn’t had a normal school education, so he wasn’t sure quite what this would be like for Lucas. Most of his childhood, if not all of it would be things that Lucas would never experience, and he was so grateful for that. He could not be more thankful that his world would never exist. His friends, and the life he’d had, he missed and wished he could have taken them with him, but they had never known the joy of watching their children run across a yard, swing around the lemon tree, cartwheel into their partner’s arms. He’d never known, until those time travelers came, and saved the world, and saved him too.

“I want to see the library, too!” Luke said.

“Oh, you are definitely Nana’s grandson, huh,” Deke cooed, squeezing him and making Luke laugh. 

“Breakfast,” Daisy said, gesturing them towards the table with the plates she and Daniel were carrying. Deke lifted Luke up off his lap and carried him over to the table in the kitchen, the sunlight lighting up the space beautifully. They’d bought this house because of how much natural light poured in through the big windows, at Deke’s request.

“Space is cold and there weren’t a lot of points where you could see the sun,” he had said, looking around a house that felt cold and drafty. “I want a big house with big windows, so we can have the sunshine. I think I’d like to wake up beside you guys, sunshine on our skin, for the rest of our lives.”

Daisy and Daniel had readily agreed, and they’d found the perfect home which checked everyone’s boxes. 

Deke plopped Luke into his chair next to Daisy, who finally clocked his outfit.

“Oh, Lucas, you are definitely changing before you go to school.”

“Why?” Luke asked, looking down at himself with confused eyebrows.

“We picked out an outfit last night, bud,” Daisy reminded him. She set his plate down in front of him and then his glass of orange juice. 

“Yeah,” he agreed, reaching for his fork. Deke sipped his coffee and stretched out his legs, pressing his feet into Daniel’s and then up his leg. Daniel looked up from his plate and narrowed his eyes at Deke. 

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

Daisy sat down once Luke was tucking in, and Deke switched one foot away from Daniel to Daisy’s leg. She startled a little as he did the same to her, running his toes and the ball of his foot along her bare foot and then up her leg. 

“Deke,” she said evenly, “not right now.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he said, picking up his toast and taking a bite out of it. “Just enjoying breakfast with my family.”

She lifted her own foot, though, and teasingly ran it along his, making eye contact the entire time. 

“Papa?” Luke asked, looking up from his plate with a mouth full of eggs.

“Chew and swallow first,” Daniel responded.

Luke made a big show of chewing his food and then swallowing it comically.

“Papa?” he asked again.

“Yes, Luke?”

“You’re picking me up after school, right?”

“I am.”

Luke nodded, and stopped before he asked, “you won’t be late?”

Daniel had never been late for anything as long as Deke had known him. It was only because of Deke that they were late for the wedding. But it had been Daniel who had always made sure they were on time for dates, for events. It had been Daniel who had realized that Daisy was in labor with Luke before even she knew and had ushered them to the hospital, not wanting to be late for the birth of their child. It had been Daniel, as well, who had realized that Daisy was pregnant again, noticing that her period had been missed. They hadn’t told anyone yet, too early, not even Lucas, but Deke and Daniel both touched her stomach more often when they were alone now. 

“I will always be on time, okay?” Daniel said, leaning towards Luke. Luke nodded.

He looked at Daisy and said, “and you’re going to drop me off.”

“ Yepp , that’s the plan,” she replied. “Right on time.”

Luke was inheriting Daniel’s punctuality. 

Deke did not have that same punctuality, but he didn’t need it when Daniel was around.

“Good,” Luke said, looking up at Deke for a moment and smiled. “You made lunch?”

“I did make you an extra special lunch,” Deke promised with a wink. 

Daisy narrowed her eyes. 

“What’s in the bag, Deke?”

“Nothing you need to worry your gorgeous little head about, sweets,” Deke said.

“Good,” Luke said, shoving another forkful of food into his mouth. Deke echoed it and smiled at Daisy. 

“If it gets Lucas in trouble, you’re getting punished instead,” she said.

“Oh, promise?” Deke asked cheekily.

She narrowed her eyes and underneath the table sent a quake burst  light enough not to hurt him but strong enough to shuffle his chair back and  echo through his bones.

“Is Aunt Kora coming this weekend?” Luke asked instead. “I want to show her  the game we made.”

“I’ll check with Aunt Kora  to make sure, but she said she’d be here.”

Luke  nodded, seemed to think if he had any other questions, and then shoved his last piece of bacon into his mouth whole.

“All done,” Luke said around the food.

“Chew and swallow first,” Daniel said.

Luke stared right at Daniel while he chewed and then swallowed the rest of his breakfast.

“All done,” he repeated, showing his empty plate to Daniel.

“Alright, you can go.”

“Go get changed, munch,” Daisy said as Luke hopped off the chair and headed for the stairs. “Into your school clothes, please.”

“Yes, Mom,” he groaned, and made eye contact with Deke to roll his eyes. Deke had to shove his fist into his mouth and swallow down a chuckle. Daisy hit him with another light quake since she couldn’t hit his shoulder from the other side of the table.

“No superpowers at the table,” she said.

“No siding with our son,” she replied.

“Okay, children,” Daniel said placatingly. “Deke, don’t encourage Luke’s attitude. Daisy, don’t quake our husband.”

“Fine,” they grumbled.

Daniel rose and took everyone’s plates with him to the dishwasher.

“He’s  gonna be okay, you know,” Deke said, reaching out and touching her wrist. “He’s  _ Daisy Johnson’s _ son after all. He’s impossible, raised by a man born in 1918 and a man born in 2063, and Quake herself, who has saved this world, the future, the past, and another universe entirely. He’ll be okay.”

“But that might make him a target for the other kids to pick on. Kids don’t like different.”

“Kids like different until an adult tells them it’s wrong. And adults love Luke, right?”

“I don’t want him to get hurt. It’s so hard to let him go where I can’t protect him.”

There were tears in her eyes, and Daniel came to her side to hug her. He was so good with pregnant Daisy, somehow sensing the swing of her mood before it happened.

“I just can’t believe he’s in kindergarten already,” she sniffled, hand going to her belly instinctually. “He was just a little flutter under my heart yesterday, and now he’s walking, and talking, and going out into the world where anything could happen to him. And he’s Inhuman like me so really anything could happen to him. Who knows who could take and hurt him?”

Daniel kissed her forehead and Deke rounded the table to kneel next to her, putting his hand on her back to comfort her.

“Hey,” he said softly. “He’s okay. He’s got you, and me, and Daniel looking out for him from here. He’s got Kora, all of his aunts, and uncles, plus the rest of the team behind him. Plus, with Mack, he’s protected by all of SHIELD.”

Daisy wiped a tear away.

“He’s the most protected kid in the world. He’s okay.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “He’s okay.”

Daniel squeezed Deke’s hand where it rested against Daisy’s back. 

They heard Luke coming down the stairs before they saw him, finally dressed in the outfit they’d bought for his first day of school, a nice button-down over a simple t-shirt and jeans. He looked so cute, and Deke barely managed to keep his cooing to himself. Luke hated when he was cooed at; he insisted he was big enough that he didn’t need to be cooed at. That made Deke want to do it more, but he refrained in order to keep Luke happy. 

“Well, look at you,” Daniel said instead, walking over and dropping down onto one knee. Daisy checked the clock and sighed.

“I’ve got to get him to the school, and then head to work. Can you grab his lunch while I get the car ready?” she asked Deke. He got up but not before kissing Daisy. She made a noise into his mouth, grabbing the front of his shirt to keep him in place. “Thank you.”

“I love you,” Deke said. “You know I love you. And you know that I will tear down the world if anything happens to Lucas.”

“I know,” she said. “I love you for that.”

He kissed her forehead and stood up, heading for the fridge where he’d stowed Luke’s lunch the previous night while Daisy was giving him a bath and Daniel was cleaning up the living room. He could hear the sound of the car starting in the garage, and Daisy searching for her purse, and Daniel talking quietly to Luke. 

Deke couldn’t imagine being any happier than this. He’d change his mind, he was sure, with the new baby in their lives, and as their life moved forward, but for this moment, right here, in their home, this was the happiest he’d ever been. 

**Author's Note:**

> Did you see I made an actual series this time, guys?! :D  
> I don't know where this series ends, I'm having a good time writing quick fluffy stuff so maybe it won't ever end :)
> 
> -k


End file.
